Some of you may have seen this bike on ebay recently. Lots of pics and pretty ratty looking. The auction listed the bike as a 1986 size small frame, but its actually a 1987 20 in frame size and they also listed it having an "onza" stem which is actually a Ritchey Force stem. These inacurracies were easy to pick out before bidding on the bike, but looking at the pictures it was hard to tell how much rust was present, and how much was lack of upkeep, dirt, grease, surface rust, etc.
I didn't think it would go for much and I did manage to win the bike for a fairly low price. After getting the bike I have managed to go through an initial clean-up phase and here is what I found.
1) Man this thing is dirty!!! Not sure why the seller did not try and clean it up a little bit. I removed all of the non- Ritchey decals from the frame (and stem), and used some polishing compound to take off most of the surface rust.
2) The rust on the chainstay is not as deep as it looked in the picture. This is a solid frame, but it does have some serious chips and wear marks on the frame.
3) Tires were no good and had to be trashed, and the wheels, hubs, and cassette were really dirty as well. Noticeable play in both hubs and the cassette lock ring was finger loose. I removed and cleaned the cassette (pretty ugly), and the rims cleaned right up. The front hub was in excellent shape finish-wise and the black ano on the rear hub is pretty faded. I stripped the hubs down and cleaned and re-greased them. The rear hub got new bearings that I already had, and after the rebuild everything is spinning smoothley with no play.
4) The brakes were in rough shape as well, especially the U-Brake which was barely moving. I removed, cleaned, re-greased, and re-assembled and adjusted everything and other than using some parts bin housing and brake cables both the fornt and back brakes are working great.
5) The pedals are pretty scuffed-up but the bearing are pretty smooth still. I need to dissassemble and re-grease but have not gotten to that yet.
6) The cranks are one of the ugly parts of this ride for sure. I removed and cleaned the chainrings and the middle one is an Onza 36T stainless ring with stepped teeth. The bottom bracket is not vintage correct and appears to be a 90's vintage shimano cartridge style BB. Very smooth with no play.
7) Headset is smooth with no play, but I will refresh it soon, just haven't gotten to it yet.
8 ) Replaced the shift housing and cables (parts bin stuff).
9) Replaced the front derailleur which had a rusty cage with a Deore parts bin item.
10) The rear derailleur was extremely gummed-up and dirty. So much so that it would not move through its motion, only about a third of the way. After cleaning and lubing it is working great. I did slap some alloy wheels in the RD but am going to replace with the original pulleys. Used a chain form the parts bin and everything shifts like new!
11) Spent a little time polishing on the seatpost. The post had some frame saver at the lower end of the post which is actually a good thing I think.
12) Cleaned the saddle off a bit and re-glued the loose edges with contact cement. I had a flite on the bike initially, but really like that old turbo saddle. Removed the lovely yellow bar tape and installed some regular grips.
So at this point its a solid rideable bike and other than my sweat, a little blood, elbow grease and parts bin stuff I haven't had to purchase anything extra for the bike as of yet. Maybe some new grab-on grips in the future perhaps.As far as the finish on the bike I think it would be a good candidate for a repaint or powder coat, but just have to decide if its worth the extra dollars and time. At the very least I am going to be sanding down any areas with surface rust and spraying with primer and white paint just to protect the frame from any further rusting in those vulnerable areas.
I have also considered replacing the beater cranks with a set of pristine black Race Face compact LP cranks. I have the full set of black race face triple rings in new condition or I also have a nice black salsa 32 T ring I could use and run it as a 1x7. Riding in Missouri I "never" use anything but my middle ring on all of my bikes so all of my bikes end-up being 1x sooner or later. I realize thats definitely not vintage correct but I never had any misgivings about making this anything but a rider.
Here are some pics:
I didn't think it would go for much and I did manage to win the bike for a fairly low price. After getting the bike I have managed to go through an initial clean-up phase and here is what I found.
1) Man this thing is dirty!!! Not sure why the seller did not try and clean it up a little bit. I removed all of the non- Ritchey decals from the frame (and stem), and used some polishing compound to take off most of the surface rust.
2) The rust on the chainstay is not as deep as it looked in the picture. This is a solid frame, but it does have some serious chips and wear marks on the frame.
3) Tires were no good and had to be trashed, and the wheels, hubs, and cassette were really dirty as well. Noticeable play in both hubs and the cassette lock ring was finger loose. I removed and cleaned the cassette (pretty ugly), and the rims cleaned right up. The front hub was in excellent shape finish-wise and the black ano on the rear hub is pretty faded. I stripped the hubs down and cleaned and re-greased them. The rear hub got new bearings that I already had, and after the rebuild everything is spinning smoothley with no play.
4) The brakes were in rough shape as well, especially the U-Brake which was barely moving. I removed, cleaned, re-greased, and re-assembled and adjusted everything and other than using some parts bin housing and brake cables both the fornt and back brakes are working great.
5) The pedals are pretty scuffed-up but the bearing are pretty smooth still. I need to dissassemble and re-grease but have not gotten to that yet.
6) The cranks are one of the ugly parts of this ride for sure. I removed and cleaned the chainrings and the middle one is an Onza 36T stainless ring with stepped teeth. The bottom bracket is not vintage correct and appears to be a 90's vintage shimano cartridge style BB. Very smooth with no play.
7) Headset is smooth with no play, but I will refresh it soon, just haven't gotten to it yet.
8 ) Replaced the shift housing and cables (parts bin stuff).
9) Replaced the front derailleur which had a rusty cage with a Deore parts bin item.
10) The rear derailleur was extremely gummed-up and dirty. So much so that it would not move through its motion, only about a third of the way. After cleaning and lubing it is working great. I did slap some alloy wheels in the RD but am going to replace with the original pulleys. Used a chain form the parts bin and everything shifts like new!
11) Spent a little time polishing on the seatpost. The post had some frame saver at the lower end of the post which is actually a good thing I think.
12) Cleaned the saddle off a bit and re-glued the loose edges with contact cement. I had a flite on the bike initially, but really like that old turbo saddle. Removed the lovely yellow bar tape and installed some regular grips.
So at this point its a solid rideable bike and other than my sweat, a little blood, elbow grease and parts bin stuff I haven't had to purchase anything extra for the bike as of yet. Maybe some new grab-on grips in the future perhaps.As far as the finish on the bike I think it would be a good candidate for a repaint or powder coat, but just have to decide if its worth the extra dollars and time. At the very least I am going to be sanding down any areas with surface rust and spraying with primer and white paint just to protect the frame from any further rusting in those vulnerable areas.
I have also considered replacing the beater cranks with a set of pristine black Race Face compact LP cranks. I have the full set of black race face triple rings in new condition or I also have a nice black salsa 32 T ring I could use and run it as a 1x7. Riding in Missouri I "never" use anything but my middle ring on all of my bikes so all of my bikes end-up being 1x sooner or later. I realize thats definitely not vintage correct but I never had any misgivings about making this anything but a rider.
Here are some pics:
